


Grow Like a Riot

by gelbes_gilatier



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alien Flora & Fauna, Animals, Crack, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-16
Updated: 2012-12-16
Packaged: 2017-11-21 07:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/594806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gelbes_gilatier/pseuds/gelbes_gilatier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just another day at the office... that is, on an off-world mission... with birds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grow Like a Riot

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnneRuane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnneRuane/gifts).



> [Holiday Fic Request Meme](http://gelbes-gilatier.livejournal.com/289880.html). Damn, I'm sorry that it took me so long but surprisingly it was a very busy weekend and I just didn't get a spot of time to put the stories for the last couple days online... but here they are!

**Grow Like A Riot **

  
_“Lisztomania_   
_“Think less but see it grow like a riot, like a riot, oh_   
_I'm not easily offended_   
_It's not hard to let it go from a mess to the masses”_   


_Phoenix, “Lisztomania”_

It was _supposed_ to be a routine mission. Carson Beckett and a couple Marines on an allied planet, vaccinating kids, talking to parents, inspecting hygiene arrangements, the usual. And then the _birds_ happened.

He’s still not quite sure _how_ it happened but one moment, he was chatting with one of the village’s elders about improving the villagers recovery rates after a culling and the approaching winter when suddenly he heard Corporal Ryan mutter, “Did I stick myself with a sharp object, or am I really seeing a dancing ostrich?”

As it was, he did wonder for a moment if Ryan wasn’t what Laura liked to call bullshitting him because according to her, the Atlantis Marines think being thoroughly messed with a good way to initiate civilians – or just basically everyone – into their ranks and well… it _had_ been a quite ludicrous excalamation.

That is, until he saw them for himself. They _looked_ a lot like ostriches, except most of their feathers were blue and pink instead of various shades of grey. And their beaks were a bit wider and flatter but basically they look like ostriches. And they were dancing… still are, actually.

As it was, all they could do is staring and he nearly missed the elder’s explanation that this is a popular mating ritual of this particular species. To which Lieutenant Balthasar, the Marine’s platoon leader, promptly replied, thankfully under her breath, “And here I thought they were Disney’s inspiration for the Fantasia ostriches.”

Which was when it hit him that _yes_ , that was what the birds remind him off when they came bouncing out of the woods. So they have been watching them for ten minutes now and it’s still impossible to _not_ stare at them… and waiting for hippos in tutus to appear.

“Doc?” Balthasar says, still strangely entranced by the birds and their apparently complicated and intricate mating dance, “It’s no use digging out the video camera because people won’t believe us anyway, huh?”

He blink, forcing himself to think on her observation and finally settles on, “I don’t think they won’t believe us _unless_ there is video footage.”

The Lieutenant seems to contemplate that for a moment, still staring, of course, then turns to him and grins. “And I bet a certain Lieutenant would give you her undivided attention for at least a minute for that.” Pardon?

Oh, right, _that_ Lieutenant. Well, actually… ever since the thing with Rodney kissing him which turned out into Lieutenant _Cadman_ having kissed him… there’s no denying in the fact that he’d like more time to spend with her… well. He grins back. “That, and practically all behavioral biologists.”

There’s an expression of pure, unadultered self-confidence and just a bit of arrogance in Balthasar’s eyes now, which seem to be a trait she shares with Laura and a few other female soldiers in Atlantis. Not to mention _all_ the male soldiers. “Leave _those_ to _me_ , Doc.”

Why bloody ever he should do that, anyway. But if Balthasar has some positive personal gain from that, who is he to deprive her of that? “Bring the camera, Lieutenant. I’m sure we’ll find _someone_ to benefit from the footage.”

She throws him a casual two finger salute and bellows in the general direction of her Marines, “Someone get me the fucking cam, this is going to be pure gold in bartering with the biologists!” What… bloody… ever she wants to bargain with the _biologists_ for. Must be something important since Ryan and his fellow Marines nearly fall over themselves to get to the jumper to retrieve the camera.

In the end, as it turns out, they were both right. The biologists suddenly love him so much that they decide to buy them dinner – as soon as they’re back on Earth, that is – and wouldn’t let them go for nearly an hour, which Balthasar didn’t seem to mind. And well, Laura Cadman… let’s just say, he thinks, that she gave him _more_ than a minute of her time. She gave him, in fact, an entire evening and the rest of her week. That certainly was worth the disturbing view of live birds doing the Fantasia ostriches right in front of his eyes.

 


End file.
